Misconceptions Over The Safety Of Vaping and E-Cigs Is Risking Lives

Cancer Research UK Calls For An End To Misinformation About Vaping

There’s a dangerous and growing misconception out there that vaping is as bad for you as smoking and Cancer Research UK says it needs to stop.

Politicians have touched on this issue – Public Health England mentioned it in its recent Review of all things vaping – I never stop banging on about it and now Cancer Research UK has joined the fray and is calling for action to save countless lives.

Of all the big health charities here in the UK – Cancer Research has to be the biggest supporter of vaping and for quite some time now has been calling on smokers to quit by switching to vaping.

This is not some little charity either – in 2016/2017 they raised over £647million spending £386million on research alone – and by employing some of the best scientists and researchers in the world you know when this charity speaks out – those in the know listen.

The facts are there for all to see and make for worrying reading.

Between 2013 and 2017 almost 4 times as many people wrongly believed that vaping was more dangerous than smoking – despite all the scientific evidence pointing to that being plainly wrong.

As the PHE review said this week the numbers of smokers taking up vaping to quit smoking has ‘plateaued out‘ standing now at around 3million people.

Given there’s around 7.6 million smokers in the UK – and numbers are at an all time low – whilst the switch to vaping has made progress it’s stalled meaning there’s still a long way to go.

Is The Media To Blame For False Information Around Vaping?

So where has this public misconception come from?

You only need to take a quick look at the main headlines around e-cigarettes this past few days to see exactly where the public and indeed smokers are getting this misinformation from – the media!

Following on from the excellent review of e-cigarettes from Public Health England released this week – the media and almost as one dodged the key positive policy recommendations regarding vaping and instead concentrated on ‘vaping should be allowed in hospital beds‘ and ‘e-cigarettes should be on prescription‘.

This of course clouded what was a pretty resounding thumbs up to vaping health wise – however with those kind of headlines it meant an opening for more people to bang on about the NHS struggling already without selfish vapers demanding ‘special treatment‘.

And following on from last weeks hysterical headlines suggesting e-cigarettes cause cancer – rebutted here – I wake this morning to see that we vapers are probably going to get pneumonia – no doubt I’ll be rebutting that one soon too.

Where will this tsunami of fake news and sensationalist headlines end?

Because as crazy as it sounds the slow drip drip drip of false information blown up in the media is costing lives and meaning more smokers are not making the healthier option to switch or at least try.

OK so lets look at the key points the public is confused about and this is coming straight from CRUK.

Scientists analyzed the chemicals released from tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and estimated that the lifetime cancer risk for e-cigarette use could be 100 times lower than that of smoking.

So you’re 100 times less likely to get cancer by being a regular vaper than a regular smoker – FACT.

Anyone heard – read or watched the media ‘bigging up‘ this fact?

Probably not – I mean it’s almost as if there’s an ‘agenda out there…‘

The Public’s Perception Of E-Cigarettes Worsens

CRUK says this is a particularly worrying trend and the numbers make quite shocking reading.

Five years ago less people believed vaping was as harmful as smoking compared to today – and despite all the evidence and regulations forced on and improvements made by the vaping industry – this figure seems to be growing alarmingly.

In 2013 just 7% of people thought vaping was more harmful than smoking compared to a whopping rise to 26% in 2017 – that’s just 13% of people in the UK who rightly believe that e-cigarettes and vaping is a lot less harmful than smoking.

Quite scary really.

So take a bow mainstream media – as I keep on saying your puerile ‘war against vaping‘ might make juicy headlines and click-bait to sell your ailing tomes – but you are costing lives – all for the sake of a few clicks or newspaper sales.

As I reported earlier this week – Professor John Newton the Director for Health Improvement at Public Health England said:

It would be tragic if thousands of smokers who could quit with the help of an e-cigarette are being put off due to false fears about their safety.

CRUK are doing their utmost to get this message across and I applaud them for taking such a brave stance against such an anti e-cigarette media.

E-Cigarettes DO Help People Quit Smoking

Once again the numbers don’t lie and for once the media couldn’t ignore this report when it was first released.

In 2017 the number of smokers in the UK fell dramatically showing the lowest number of successful ‘quits’ since records began.

CRUK quite rightly surmises whilst this is dramatic fall is not down to the use of e-cigarettes alone – they say ‘they’re likely to have played a role.’

It doesn’t take a genius to see the link – and neither does it take a genius to see that given vaping has ‘plateaued‘ at its current level – it’s entirely possible less smokers are likely to turn to vaping and these record breaking quit figures will stall.

CRUK also points out that past research had shown the majority of vapers were dual users – those that smoke and vape – however recent studies show this is no longer the case with more sole users of e-cigarettes than those who smoke as well.

It’s not rocket science when I say if the media continues its war on vaping more people will die of lit tobacco related diseases.

Nope Kids Aren’t Using Vaping As A ‘Gateway’ To Smoking

Every time I come to write anything with that kind of title my head rests gently on my keyboard for a few moments – I let out a deep sigh or two and begin writing.

Of all the arguments from the anti-vape brigade nothing is as emotive as ‘what about the poor little kiddies‘.

It’s as if us vapers and indeed the vape industry are part of some kind of Dickensian cult that hangs around school gates proffering vape kits and e-liquid on anyone under 18.

‘Pssst kid…wanna buy an ego…?‘

Just call me E-Fag Fagin if you like.

I know it’s not a laughing matter…but really I’m tired of this argument!

Politicians – health organizations – health watchdogs and major charities such as CRUK are calling for more work to be done on blowing away the myth that vaping is as if not more dangerous than smoking.

Sadly these calls are falling on deaf ears as far as the media is concerned.

For every single well meaning extensive and expensive campaign launched – such as the one currently ongoing in the Greater Manchester area – all the hard work can be undone by one single irresponsible tabloid headline.

And given those irresponsible wildly inaccurate unfairly reported ‘stories‘ don’t look as if they’re ever going to go away any time soon – vaping advocates and the bodies I’ve mentioned have their work cut out to say the least.

So now more than ever organizations – particularly charities that are positively supporting vaping such as CRUK and the New Nicotine Alliance – need our support to help on re-educating the public.

Right I’m off to research pneumonia *sighs* – watch this space 😉

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I began vaping over 6 years ago and found it easy to give up a 40 per day roll-up habit!
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